The One Gift You Can Give Yourself as We Move Through the Last Stretch of 2025
It doesn’t quite feel like 2025 is “winding down.”
If anything, it feels like we’re still in it —
the last bits of hassle,
the final demanding stretch,
the loose ends, the lingering pressure,
the momentum that hasn’t slowed yet.
This year has felt long in some places, fast in others, and stretched thin in ways I didn’t see coming.
But even as we’re still moving through the final parts of it, I’ve been sitting with a quiet question:
What is one gift I want to offer myself as I step out of this year?
Not a goal.
Not a plan.
Not a resolution.
A gift.
A gesture of care toward the version of myself who navigated a year of overdoing, overextending, and stretching myself between cities, roles, projects, and identities.
Because endings don’t wait for things to be “settled.”
We cross thresholds even when the previous chapter is still catching up behind us.
What Do You Want to Invite Into Your Life in 2026?
Every new year carries an energy, but often we rush past it.
Before you plan the next chapter, pause and ask:
“What wants to come in?”
Not what you should want.
Not what you think you’re supposed to want.
But what your deeper self is quietly longing for.
Maybe you want to invite:
- ease instead of efforting
- courage instead of caution
- creativity instead of control
- clarity instead of confusion
- rest instead of urgency
- visibility instead of shrinking
- community instead of self-reliance
- joy, trust, permission, or adventure
The invitation is an opening — a willingness to welcome what you’ve been keeping just outside the door.
Co-Active perspective: Fulfillment — listening for what wants to emerge through you.
What Do You Want to Say Goodbye To from 2025?
Every year asks us to shed something.
A role that no longer fits.
A belief that has expired.
A version of yourself you’ve outgrown.
A pattern that’s gotten too heavy to carry into another year.
Ask yourself:
“What no longer has a seat in my life?”
Maybe 2025 held:
- overthinking
- people-pleasing
- avoidance
- perfectionism
- self-doubt
- urgency
- emotional clutter
- shrinking to stay safe
- roles that limit your expansion
Letting go isn’t rejection.
It’s a form of protection — a boundary with your old self so your new self can breathe.
Co-Active perspective: Balance — conscious choosing instead of default patterns.
What Will You Continue, Double Down On, or Stop in 2026?
This simple triad offers clarity:
Continue
What nourished you this year?
What supported your alignment?
What created ease or joy?
Double down
What wants more of you next year?
What part of your life feels alive, expanding, or waiting for your fuller presence?
Stop
What is costing too much energy for too little return?
What are you doing out of obligation, habit, or fear?
Stopping is self-respect.
Continuing is self-awareness.
Doubling down is self-trust.
Co-Active perspective: Process — aligned action based on what matters most.
My One Gift for Myself
For me, the gift I’m giving myself as we move through the final stretch of 2025 is simple:
I’m saying no to over-orchestrating my life.
No to playing smart.
No to planning far ahead.
No to filling my calendar to feel in control.
No to booking back-to-back flights like a nomadic Tetris game.
No to stretching myself thin across exhibitions, residencies, projects, programs, and learning simply because I could.
2025 taught me the cost of overdoing.
So my gift is presence.
More small human moments.
More small in-person connections.
More life happening in real time, not scheduled in advance.
I want to be fully in the city I’m in — not already in the next one.
Fully with the people I’m with — not managing the next chapter in my head.
Bringing my whole self — as a solopreneur, an artist, a coach — into the moment, not just the plan.
That is my gift for myself:
Less orchestration.
More embodiment.
Less optimizing.
More living.
A Reflection for You
Before the year ends, ask yourself:
If you could give yourself just one gift as 2025 closes, what would it be?
Something to invite.
Something to release.
Something to continue, double down on, or stop.
This is not about resolutions.
This is about self-honoring.
👉 What wants to enter your life in 2026?
👉 What is ready to leave?
👉 What deserves your commitment — or your liberation?
If you’re standing at a threshold — feeling something quietly wanting to move — I’d love to explore it with you.
Coaching begins with a simple chemistry call:
a moment to listen together to what your whole self already knows.
— Jay
